On Christmas Day in 1929, the community of Germanton, North Carolina, was forever changed by the tragic murders of seven members of the Lawson family. One fact remains indisputable: Charlie Lawson was responsible for the deaths of his family. However, the question that has lingered for nearly a century is: why did he commit such a heinous act?

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Episode Sources

• Greensboro Daily News: Stokes Farmer Murders Family, Dec 26, 1929
• Greensboro Daily News: Victims to be Buried in Single Grave, Dec 27, 1929
• Statesville Record and Landmark: Only One Member of Family of 9 Left, Dec 30, 1929
• The Sentinel: No Report on Brain of Charlie Lawson, Jan 7, 1930
• Statesville Record: Commercializing the Lawson Home, Feb 3, 1930
• PlanetSlade: So hard to die: Murder of the Lawson Family
• Murderpedia: Charles Davis Lawson
• CLEWS: Christmas Murders and the Lawson Family Massacre, December 2006
• M. Bruce Jones with Trudy Smith: White Christmas, Bloody Christmas, 1990.
• Trudy Smith: The Meaning of Our Tears

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

On a sweltering day in August 1925, Mary Vickery vanished from Coxton, Kentucky. Several months later, her remains were found in an abandoned mine located just outside the town. A local taxi driver was apprehended, tried, and sentenced to life in prison for the teenager's murder. In the spring of 1927, a young woman appeared in Harlan County with information that could clear his name.

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Hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries

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Website: southernmysteries.com Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @southernmysteries Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

Episode Sources

• The Lexington Herald: Coxton Child Still Missing, August 30, 1925
• The Harlan Daily Enterprise: Vickery Girl Still Missing, September 18, 1925
• The Harlan Daily Enterprise: Dabney Caught: Now in Jail, March 5, 1926
• The Harlan Daily Enterprise: Dabney Given Life for Slaying of Vickery Girl, April 2, 1926
• The Atlanta Constitution: When Justice Triumphed, September 4, 1932.
• Kidnapping, Murder and Mayhem: “She Rose from the Dead”, September 10, 2020.
• The Messenger: Marie Jackson fails to know Mary Vickery, March 22, 1927
• The Park City Daily News: A Woman Scorned, March 22, 1927
• The Lexington Herald: Senate Bill Asks $5,000 to Repay Harlan Man for Erroneous Imprisonment, February 15, 1928
• The Voice: An Act of Revenge, August 17, 1935
• National Register of Exonerations: Condy Dabney
• Edwin Borchard: Convicting the Innocent: Errors of Criminal Justice (1932)
• FindaGrave: Condy Ulysses Dabney, 1895-1966

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

Anna Hauptrief was the first known female serial killer in Texas. Her 1924 case was known as one of the most sensational and unexplainable in Texas court history.

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Hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries

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Website: southernmysteries.com Facebook: Southern Mysteries Podcast Instagram: @southernmysteries Email: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com

Episode Sources

• The Houston Post: Suspect Mother of Poisoning Five. July 24, 1924.
• The Houston Post: Bodies Taken From Graves. July 31, 1924.
• Belleville Daily Advocate: Woman Held for Death of Five Persons. September 9, 1924.
• The Houston Post: Hauptreif, Although Crippled, By Wife’s Poison, Loves Her. October 14, 1924.
• The Austin American: Anna Hauptreif Hangs Herself in Jail. November 1, 1924
• The Waco News: Mrs. Hauptreif’s Burial Place is Changed By Her Father’s Demand. November 3, 1924.
• The Austin American: Hauptreif Goes to Grave. November 3, 1924.
• Unknown Gender History: Annie Hauptreif, Texas Black Widow Serial Killer – August 11, 2011.
• FindAGrave.com: William Louis Hauptreif
• San Marcos Daily Record: A San Marcos Serial Killer. October 31, 2019.

Episode Music

• Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.